A round of golf followed by relaxation in a Finnish spa

A new $6-million spa based on a Nordic design will be an added attraction at the city-owned Crescent Drive Golf Course in 2012.

The original Nordik Spa-Nature is located in Chelsea, Québec, where it offers a unique relaxation experience inspired by the techniques found in the Nordic countries. Since its opening in 2005, it has received numerous accolades and awards, including being named one of Canada's 10 best spas by the National Post.

The new Winnipeg spa will become Nordik Spa-Nature's first franchised spa in Canada.

The new spa is the result of more than two years of effort by the city, ANIM (Manitoba’s bilingual trade agency) and its economic development partner Yes! Winnipeg (a business development initiative within Economic Development Winnipeg) and Winnipeg project promoters and investors Robin and Norman Dupas to help bring the Quebec-based Nordik Spa-Nature concept to Winnipeg.

“Nordik Spa-Nature had been brought to the attention of ANIM by Mr. and Mrs. Dupas back in 2009 as an attractive business concept to bring to Winnipeg,” said Mariette Mulaire, ANIM's president and CEO. “Together, we approached them about making Winnipeg their second location in Canada and it turns out that what Winnipeg has to offer fit very well with Nordik Spa-Nature's own plans for expansion.”

According to Martin Paquette and Daniel Gingras, Master Spa Franchisors and co-owners of the Winnipeg location, “right from our first meeting with Robin and Norman Dupas, the reception we have received from Winnipeg has been very welcoming. The assistance that rallied around our project to make it a reality was incredible.”

Mulaire said that the two year wooing process involved hosting Nordik Spa-Nature's investing partners twice in the city to explore potential sites for the spa and work out the project's details. It also involved bringing in Yes! Winnipeg to help find solutions to some of the challenges facing the project.

“This deal is an excellent example of the new spirit of teamwork that exists among Manitoba’s economic development partners,” said Mulaire. “Yes! Winnipeg’s involvement was instrumental in ensuring that all of Nordik Spa-Nature’s requirements were met so that the project could receive the green light from its investors.”

The new spa is slated to open in the fall of 2012, and its development is being managed by Winnipeg-based GPP Architecture.

Once built, the spa is expected to result in 60 new full-time jobs and 50 new contract positions, and will become an important tourism asset for the city of Winnipeg.

ANIM, Manitoba’s Bilingual Trade Agency, was created in 2007. Funded by the provincial government, its main focus is to draw business investments to Manitoba from target markets that include Québec, France and Belgium, and to create opportunities for Manitoba companies in these designated markets.